Flexible drive



Dec. 12, 1939. N. E. GEE 2,182,803

FLEXIBLE DRIVE Filed Oct. 22, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J JG L INVENTOR: JYorman E. G66

AT EYS.

Patented Dec. 12, 1939 I v v t -UNITED v STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 FLEXIBLE. DRIvE' Norman E. Gee, Altoona, I a Application October 22, 1936, Serial No. 107,023

7 Claims. (01.64.41)

This invention relates to a flexible drive and. means for securing the driving unit on the driving has special application to quill drives of the type pin, the view being taken as indicated by the used on electric locomotives for transmitting the lines III-III of Fig..l1.

torque of the driving motor to the locomotive Fig. IV represents a cross section of a modified 5 driving wheels. form of driving unit. r 6' Heretofore various types of driving connections This invention, although it y be pp have been employed on electric locomotives, but to various types of drives, isparticularly appliso far as I am aware, there has not yet been cable to electric locomotives which have the main produced a. simple dependable drive which can driving motorspositioned onthe main frame Of 10 b operated for. a considerable length of time the locomotive and'the torqueof the motors de- 10 withoutrequiring undue attention; repair or relivered through fl xi le means to e drivin placement of parts, Wheels. In thus applying this new flexible driv- Accordingly, the principal object of my ining gear to a modern electric locomotive, novention is to provide a flexible drive which is charchange is co p ated in t e main drivingr 0- acterized by simplicity of construction and des, t e a frame of the locomotive, quill 15 pendability of operation and which can be used a s that transfer the motel torque to the d i to advantage on electric locomotives, enabling i g u it, but the Change n des gn s confined to such locomotives tobe operated over long dise main gear Center, e d v g wheels and the tances, say, one hundred thousand miles, and in flexible unit between the driving gear and the all kinds of service, with only the usual running driving wheels. 20

inspection? With reference to Figs. I, II and III of the A more specific object of th i ti i t drawings, there is shown a conventionaldriving provide a quill drive for electric locomotives or aXle ate y t e u eral 0, and a locothe like wherein the connecting drive unit bemotive dIiVlng wheel ll secured to the axle I0.

tween the quill and the wheels to be driven has oundin the a e n th e s a qui l which 25 capacity for revolving bodily about the quill m y he assumed to bedriverl y e eetrie-mocenter, and such connecting drive unithas additor. There is sufiicient clearance between the tional capacity fer rotation aboutits own axi axle l0 and the quill i2 to allow for considerable In one preferred form of the invention such at ve v e p the q a r connecting unit is circular in shape and has center i3 is u the g e t having 30 a rolling contact with parts associated with the gears H at its pe y and be oused Within wheels to be driven. In other preferred forms of a ear ea e The gear ter 3 is provided the invention various means are employed, as With a plurality of P ct ng members "5., each hereinafter more fully explained, for permitting hav ng machine faces'into which a drivin p rolling of the locomotive frame on its spring gear s pressed. 35 Without causing sliding frictional Contact be- Rotatably o ted upon each p is econ-- tween the connecting drive unit and the wheels fl g d ive u t designated In t e eX- to be driven ampleillustrated in Figs. I, II and III, the drive other objects and advantages characteristic .unit IB'iS CiICular'in form, is Of resilient material,

40 of my invention will become more fully apparent such as rubber, and has a bushing l9 rotatably 40 from the description hereinafter set forth of surrounding'the driving D Preferably the one embodiment or example of the-invention, bushin is p d w th collars 20 at both together with certain modifications thereof, havds the eof. One of the collars 20 may Coming reference to the accompanying drawings. Of prise a a g fo m a integral part of the th drawings; bushing, and the other collar may comprise a 45 Fig-1 represents a fragmentary side elevation threaded disc removably u d p the bush of'my improved flexible drive applied to a 1000- ing. The collars 20 serve to reduce the wear motive. driving gear center, and illustrates the on the resilient drive unit. Each driving D manner in which the rotatable drive units coact IT s further provided with an annular washer with parts of the driving wheel of the locomotive. d threaded p 22 Which is Centrally 50 Fig. II represents aucross section of the same, posed Within the driving P and Carries a P utaken as indicated y the lines 1 f Fig. I. rality of nuts 23 used for securing the drive unit Fig. IIIrepresents a portion of the main driving I8 in position on the driving pin 22. Desirably gear center, a portionof the driving unit, and eachdriving pin l1 and each securing pin 22 thepdriving pin ,carrying, the unit, together with are provided with channels 24 through? which 55 a lubricant may be applied and distributed to the wearing surfaces between the bushing l9 and the driving pin H, such lubricant channels 24 being clearly shown in Fig. II. It will be observed that each connecting drive unit 18 is positioned in direct line with and between spokes of the locomotive driving wheel ll. Adjacent to the top of each spoke at either side thereof, driving pads 25 are employed. In the examples shown in Figs. I, II and III, such pads 25 are formed as an integral part of the driving wheel II, and each drive unit l8 has a rolling contact with a smooth surface of the pad which it engages.

The operation of the apparatus shown in Figs.

I, II and III, as applied to an electric locomotive is as follows: It may be assumed that driving motors, usually two in number, are positioned on the main frame of a locomotive above each driving axle l0, and that the weight of the frame, the main motors, and the auxiliary equipment is carried by spring gear and transferred through main driving boxes to the driving axle l and thence through the locomotive driving wheels H to the rails of the road bed. Vertical movement may thus occur between the main frame which is carried by the flexible spring gear and the driving wheels which engage the rails, and the design of the present flexible drive takes care of such vertical movement. When the connecting drive units l8 engage the driving pads 25 and the locomotive springs are deflected due to uneven track, the drive units It being carried indirectly by the main spring rigging arrangement of the locomotive revolve bodily about the axis of the quill I 2, which is always substantially coincident with the axis of the driving axle l0, and rotate about their own axes with rolling contact at the smooth surfaces of the pads 25. Likewise when the locomotive springs rebound, the load on the spring rigging is raised and the drive units 18 are caused to rotate in the opposite direction upon the driving pads 25. When the current in the motor fields is reversed, the direction in which the main driving gear revolves is reversed, and the opposite face of each drive unit l8 will then engage the pad 25 on the opposite side of the opening in the driving wheel, as will be clearly apparent from Fig. I of the drawings.

In theexample illustrated and described above, each connecting drive unit I8 is shown as being constructed of rubber and adapted to relieve the motors of undue shocks and permit of the necessary deflections due to rough track and inaccurate concentric alignment between the quill l2 and driving axle Ill. Obviously the driving units, under conditions where space permits, may comprise pneumatic tires, similar to truck tires, but where space does not permit, the solid form illustrated herein is preferable.

In Fig. IV there is shown a modified form of connecting drive unit l8a mounted upon a bushing I911. In this arrangement a solid rubber disc is employed with its hub portion laterally expanded and firmly engaged at each side by relatively large flange elements or collars 20a.

It will be apparent'that in the example of my invention described and illustrated herein, the connecting drive unit through which torque is transmitted from the motor of an electric locomotive to the driving wheels is characterized by capacity to revolve bodily about the axis of the quill and characterized additionally by the capacity to rotate about its own axis. By employing a drive unit of this character, in conjunction with resilient means associated either with the drive unit or with the driving wheel of the locomotive, it is possible to reduce very considerably the factor of wear at the critical points where the drive unit engages the wheel to be driven, and thus it is possible to obtain a strong dependable drive which does not require frequent inspection or repair or replacement of parts.

Throughout this specification the wheels of the locomotive which engage the rails have been referred to as the driving wheels, because they serve to drive the locomotive, but such wheels are in reality the driven members of the combination of elements described and illustrated herein, and they are referred to as such in the claims which follow.

While I have described an example of my invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the annexed claims, and it will also be apparent that the invention is not confined in its application to use with a quill drive for electric locomotives.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: 1. In combination with a drive member and a driven member, which move concentric to each other, cylindrical resilient drive units positioned on trunnions which protrude from the face of the drive member, a spool carrying each of the rotatable drive units, inside and outside flanges of the spool, divergent inside flange faces with rounded edges, and means for placing and removing the spool from the drive unit.

2. In combination with aflexible driving gear, a drive member, a driven member, integral equal- 1y spaced protruding pins on the face of the driving member; a rotatable resilient driving unit positioned on each protruding pin; a combined spool and protective shield for the driving unit, divergent inside faces for the spool and a cavity on either side of the spool, into which the resilient unit can be compressed without injury when transmitting torque from the driving member to the driven member.

3. In combination with a flexible drive for electric locomotives, a driving member; a driven member; a plurality of spokes in the driven member; an opening in the driven member between each of the spokes; an engaging face on each side of each spoke; pins positioned on the face of the driving member, each pin protruding into the center of the opening between the spokes of the driven member and a rotatable spool having outward diverging end walls which act as a protective shield; a resilient drive unit positioned on the spool with a cavity on either side of the drive unit between the face of the unit and the inside face of the spool into which the drive unit is free to expand when transmitting torque.

4. In combination with a flexible drive for electric locomotives, a drive member, a driven member, means for transmitting torque from the drive member to the driven member when each member rotates either concentric or eccentric to each other; a rotatable resilient unit through which the torque is transmitted in either direction; a spool carrying the resilient unit, and a cavity between the shield and the face of the resilient unit into which the unit may expand when transmitting torque, together with means for introducing lubricant between the spool and its bearing.

5. In combination with a driving member and a driven member,an axle carried by said driving member, abushing mounted on said axle for rotary movement, a circular resilient drive unit mounted on said bushing, and in rolling contact with said driven member for the transmission of torque, and a strengthening collar attached to each end of said bushing for providing a limited support to said resilient drive unit.

6. In combination with a driving member and,

a driven member, an axle carried by said driving member, a bushing mounted on said axle for rotary movement, a circular resilient drive unit mounted on said bushing, a smooth driving surface formed on said driven member with which said unit is in rolling contact for the transmission'of torque, and a strengthening collar attached to each end of said bushing for providing,

a limited support to said resilient drive unit.

7. The invention of claim 6 wherein said drive unit is formed with a circular recess in each face to increase flexibility at an area substantiallyremoved from the center of said drive unit.

NORMAN E. GEE. 

